Chương 21: Chapter 17 - Searching For Comfort

Zeel gasped awake, feeling as if he had been slumbering since time immemorial. He could feel his bones crack intensely with every minor movement.

Zeel slowly rose causing his muscles to spasm under his uncoordinated movement. If not for his nanites, it would no doubt take a couple of days to be able to walk again.

However, Zeel was comforted by the fact that his nanites were fully integrated with his physiology. Blood vessel, brain matter, mitochondrial activity, genome sequences... everything inside his body had nanites components attached.

This made his body efficiency shoot up by another layer, while also restoring a small portion of his Techno-abilities as a Homo-Superior. this upgrade was not nearly enough to restore the full extent of his abilities, but it was a welcomed improvement nonetheless.

"Damn! I wonder how long we were asleep!" Zeel complained.

He closed his eyes and felt for the other connection to his nanites - Alice.

"She is a couple of kilometers from here," Zeel said but suddenly felt an aching pain, forcing him to inspect his own body.

"Rapid mutation," Zeel said shocked.

Truly, Zeel hoped that Umbrella Corporation would separate them since it would trigger an immediate awakening on his side, which would be the best-case scenario.

However, it seemed the crafty bastards of Umbrella noticed this flaw and opted to keep him and Alice relatively close.

Knowing there was nothing he could do at the moment, Zeel opted to tend to his own matters first.

The nanites in Zeel's body reacting violently to a foreign substance attempting to keep the substance in check and failing miserably. It didn't take a genius to realize he had been infected and the nanites were barely coping with the regulation of the mutations in his body.

Zeel knew that he urgently needed to upgrade the nanites to combat the virus in his system - The T-Virus.

"It seems an upgrade is necessary to merge with this foreign substance otherwise I could very well mutate or even die," Zeel contemplated attempting to select the perfect metals to upgrade the nanites.

The good news was the nanites were newly activated, which meant that any metal would be able to upgrade the nanites to stage two.

Still, Zeel knew the rarer the metal, the better and that meant Lanthanum and cerium would be necessary.

Luckily, both metals were found previously at The Hive and stashed in the mansion before he was captured.

"I'm glad I thought that far ahead," Zeel murmured.

Removing the needles and appendages piercing his skin, Zeel proceeded to make his way towards the door.

With the active state of his nanites, Zeel was able to scramble video feed, and walk outside the facility without any problem. The doors would automatically open as he grew closer.

The video feed would remain on loop for anyone checking on Zeel's status.

However, Zeel also noticed the flaws in his nanites-gifted abilities. At this stage of development, the nanites required proximity and time to hack systems.

That meant that he would have to be near the computer he wished to hack for at least five minutes depending on the complexity of the firewall.

Zeel walked outside the facility and onto the desolate streets of Raccoon City. He didn't need to know what happened, since the relevant information was already streamed into his mind.

Still, further investigation would have to wait until he got the T-Virus in his system under control

Zeel proceeded to a nearby clothing store to acquire proper clothing and footwear, since it was free, Zeel thought he might as well get some designer's clothing.

Zeel went with Adidas sweat pants, Lakers shirt, and Kobe Nike shoes, he looked like the textbook definition of a 'player'.

After being properly clothed, he did some light exercise before jogging to the outskirts of Raccoon City.

For a moment, he could feel Alice coming towards his direction but probably noticed he's getting further away so she stopped and pursued another direction entirely.

Truly, Zeel held great caution with anything that involved Alice since his feelings towards her had diminished a great deal since its initial awakening.

However, the psychic connection they shared had only been further enhanced by the nanites. The initial impetus between Alice and Zeel had faded from strong love to strong like.

Still, Zeel found himself craving the connection they have. It was even more apparent now than during his coma.

On his way to the outskirts of Raccoon City, Zeel mused over the number of people that now had his nanites within their systems: Catherine, Tom, Clara, and now Alice.

Basically, almost all members of The Crawford Household.

∞∞∞

After waking up and detaching herself from the machines, Alice was both confused and a bit anxious.

Her stoic face rarely betrayed her emotions though.

Alice preferred to keep a stoic expression on her face, the reason for this, even she did not know. It just felt somehow the right expression to make all the time.

Not minding her semi-naked body, Alice stumbled down the corridor and searched for an exit to wherever she was.

Truth be told, she had experienced being captured enough times in training. She was not panicking or trying to find someone responsible for her condition. Alice knew that exiting should be the number one priority at the moment.

After exiting the facility and acquiring a shotgun from a nearby police car, Alice stared at Raccoon City.

In this now desolate land, she sensed a familiar presence some kilometers away. After some major contemplation, she decided to go and check it out.

However, she noticed that the presence was getting further and further away, so she decided to look for answers elsewhere.

Alice knew that the presence she constantly felt was Zeel. She had grown a bit reliant on their connection since that was the only thing she could feel during her coma.

Despite their previously 'amicable' interactions, Alice knew that they were both essentially strangers.

They have collectively known each other for about two days at best.

Alice couldn't even tell how long ago those two days were. She suspected that both she and Zeel had been in a coma for at least a couple of months.

Even if it was an adventurous day, it was a day nonetheless. It would take a couple more days for her to accept Zeel and the connection they now shared.

Still, not all her barriers were left open. She could still recall the replay of how Zeel killed Rain without batting an eye. It still irked Alice since It felt like just yesterday.

Clearing her thoughts of anything related to Zeel or any other fallen companions, Alice did the next best thing and heads to a clothing store.

The hospital gown she was currently wearing barely covered anything at all.

Unlike Zeel, Alice was more efficient in her choice. Tight, leather suits and gun straps were all Alice needed to ensure her survival in any situation.

After getting sufficiently dressed, Alice chose a random direction and began to walk. She hoped to find someone who could fill her in on what had become of Raccoon City.

For some strange reason, Alice could feel that she already knew but needed a second opinion to ensure she wasn't going crazy.